1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for loading dye ribbon into a cassette assembly for placement within a thermal printer and to a dye ribbon supply roll and take-up for use with said methods and apparatus.
2. Description Relative to the Prior Art
In a typical color thermal printer, the dye ribbon in the form of a web dye-carrier may contain one or more series of spaced frames of colored heat transferable dyes mounted on a supply core. In use in the thermal printer apparatus, the ribbon is unwound from the supply core and rewound upon a take-up core. The ribbon moves through a nip formed between a thermal print head and a dye-absorbing receiver sheet. The receiver sheet may, for example, be a coated paper and the print head is formed of a plurality of heating elements. When heat is selectively applied to the dye ribbon in response to image information provided to the print head causing selective enablement of heating elements, dye is selectively transferred to the receiver sheet through dye sublimation or dye diffusion.
In the prior art as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,486, it is noted that the dye ribbon is difficult to handle since it has typically a thickness in the order of magnitude of ten micrometers only. For this reason, it is generally known to provide a factory loaded cassette having the supply and take-up cores already mounted and which may be directly mounted into the machine without manipulation by an operator of the printer apparatus. However, the factory mounted cassette must be disposed of or returned to the factory. In the approach suggested by the aforementioned U.S. patent a special package may be provided that can be used to mount the supply and take-up cores into a reloadable cassette. In this approach the package and the cassette are placed on a table and the respective supply and take-up cores are transferred in a particular series. A problem with this approach is the requirement of the special packaging.
It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the mounting of rolls of thermal dye ribbon into a cassette assembly.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a thermal printer apparatus comprising a cassette assembly for storing a thermal ribbon having dye, the thermal ribbon including a supply ribbon core and a take-up ribbon core, the cassette assembly including a supply ribbon support for supporting the supply ribbon core and a take-up ribbon support for supporting the take-up ribbon core, the cassette assembly being removable from the apparatus; a thermal print head positionable in engagement with the thermal ribbon for transferring dye from the thermal ribbon to a receiver sheet; a loading aid coupled to the printer apparatus and having structure for supporting the cassette assembly after the cassette assembly is removed from the apparatus, the loading aid supporting the cassette assembly so that the cassette assembly extends outwardly of the printer apparatus to facilitate loading of the supply ribbon core and take-up ribbon core in the cassette assembly.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of loading a thermal ribbon having dye into a cassette assembly of a thermal printer apparatus, the method comprising providing a cassette assembly for storing a thermal ribbon having dye, the thermal ribbon including a supply ribbon core having a supply of the thermal ribbon wound thereon as a roll and a take-up ribbon core, the cassette assembly including a supply ribbon support for supporting the supply ribbon core and a take-up ribbon support for supporting the take-up ribbon core, the cassette assembly being removable from the apparatus; removing the cassette assembly from the apparatus; mounting the cassette assembly after the cassette assembly is removed from the apparatus upon a loading aid, the loading aid supporting the cassette assembly so that the cassette assembly extends outwardly of the printer apparatus to facilitate loading of the supply ribbon core and take-up ribbon core in the cassette assembly; and positioning the supply ribbon core and take-up ribbon core respectively upon the supply ribbon support and the take-up ribbon support of the cassette assembly.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a thermal ribbon supply and take-up for loading into a cassette assembly of a thermal printer apparatus, the ribbon supply and take-up comprising a supply core having a supply of thermal ribbon wound thereon as a roll and a take-up core,wherein the thermal ribbon includes a leader portion formed of the thermal ribbon, that extends from an outer convolution of the roll of thermal ribbon with a leading end portion of the leader portion being attached to the take-up ribbon core and a double sided tape being attached to the leader portion so as to adhesively couple the leader portion to the outer convolution of the roll and wherein the adhesive coupling is sufficiently strong so as to prevent unraveling of the thermal ribbon from the roll on the supply core when the take-up core is supported by an operator and the supply core with the complete roll of ribbon thereon except for the leader portion, is allowed to dangle freely.